Cold Winter's Night
by DC Luder
Summary: At Batman's lowest hour in No Man's Land, a surprise encounter may be the difference between surrendering and pushing onward. Contains adult content, reader discretion advised.
1. Too Late, Two Breaths

Title: Cold Winter's Night: Too Late, Two Breaths

Author: DC Luder

Rating: M for language, adult situations and violence

Summary: At his lowest hour in No Man's Land, a surprise encounter may be the difference between surrendering and pushing onward.

Infringements: All recognizable characters belong to DC Comics, not DC Luder.

Author's Note: After reading No Man's Land to sate the sudden need to re-read that wonderful scene between Jim Gordon and Batman in Legends of the Dark Knight #125, I randomly sat down and wrote this piece. I opted to break it into two chapters to elaborate on an nasty cliff hanger because that's how I roll and you know you wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N 2: General references to events throughout NML. Oh, there is an M&M cookie waiting for who can spot the David Duchovny reference!!

^V^

_The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways._

Gene Hackman

^V^

The last week of November succumbed to a vicious cold snap that left the shattered streets blanketed in nearly six inches of snow. Thankfully, the sub-freezing temperatures had convinced even the most violent of gang members to seek shelter rather than cause trouble. I had spent most of the night checking in with Oracle for any sightings of any of the major threats still left roaming the streets.

Namely Bane and the Joker who, thankfully, were working against one another.

Bane had been in the employ of Lex Luthor, first to destroy the hall of records using nuclear explosives to annihilate Gotham's written history. From there, he remained in No Man's Land as hired muscle to scare off the Joker who had taken to destroying construction sites in order to delay rebuilding the city. In my last encounter with Bane, I had learned that Luthor had promised him the sizeable payment of possession of his homeland, Santa Prisca. Rather than engage in another physical encounter that would no doubt have me limping to Leslie's MASH unit, I had tried reasoning with him.

In the end, I had asked him which he desired more: another confrontation with me or his own country.

He chose the latter with a smile on his face.

On the other side of the card, the Joker had been on and off our radar since No Man's Land had begun, slowly collecting followers, weaponry and territory. Little blips had surfaced every so often with random killings, smiley faces spray painted on buildings and people talking of the clown either pulling pranks or threatening to kill them. For the last few days, there had been no sign of him, not even a green hair.

Calm before the storm.

"Boss?"

Sitting atop the fairly stable Gotham's First National bank in Midtown, I kept my eyes on a group of bundled up men huddled around a fire below, "Yes?"

"One of my Eyes is calling in from the J. P. Prewitt Reservoir… figured since you're in Coventry, you're the---."

"What's the situation?" I snapped, quickly sizing up the best place to anchor a line in order to descend to the streets. For years, I had used the rooftops as a means of making it across the city, but considering less than fifteen percent of them were structurally sound, the pavement offered the quickest and safest path.

Especially with the snow coming down in droves.

"Late night ice skating gone surprisingly wrong… apparently the ice gave in… two are in the water… I've already notified Leslie, she's sending a pair of volunteers with supplies."

I spoke quietly under my breath, "Let's hope they don't make the trip for nothing."

Running through the settling snow with as much caution as I would spare, I regretted broadcasting to my self-doubt to her. Since my return to Gotham, I had persevered through the greatest of challenges, acclimating to a new way of life while letting go of over a decade of memories. Although my allies had returned as well, I had lost the trust and faith of the one I relied on the most: James Gordon. Where I had fled Gotham after failing to convince the government to spare it from being dissolved from existence, he had stayed on without hesitation to do what I thought was impossible. Ignoring the odds, he had remained in our city to keep justice and order in a living Hell.

For three months I had tormented myself many number of ways ranging from bumbling about as Bruce Wayne to engaging in senseless violence without defending myself. Having given up on Gotham, I had in turn given up on myself and had surrendered to a life of self-punishment. I had failed my city, my people and my parents.

I hadn't deserved life, even one of suffering.

As the No Man's Land carried on with abundant survivors, I had expected Alfred or Clark or even Dick to hunt me down in order to slap some sense into me.

The slap, surprisingly enough, had been delivered by Talia.

It had happened after a long night of being trapped in Bruce Wayne's skin, behind his fake smiles and underneath his lewd jokes. Unable to bear it any longer, I had left the gallant casino of debutantes to walk it off. Sur enough, I had taken a wrong turn, the one I had been anticipating and even longing for. Instinct had forced me to block the first blow they had wielded upon me but after I mentally shut down my autonomic defenses, the rest had been easy.

I could still taste the blood on the back of my tongue.

Fresh from having the life pummeled from me by the trio of Parisian thugs, I had stumbled back to my hotel room ready to crawl into bed and lick my wounds. To my utter surprise, Talia had been waiting for me, trying to conceal her concern with anger. After I had made a remark that she was sweet to have come but needed to get out, she had hit me hard enough to make me forget about the group of men I had just faced off with.

Although where they had left me lying in the streets, she had tended to my wounds.

Both inside and out.

As she staunched bleeding lacerations and iced contusions, Talia had tried to remind me all that I had accomplished but when I replied that I didn't care anymore, she had resumed aggressive tactics. She had said that I was a disgrace, to myself, my teachers… and my parents. When even that low of a blow failed to move me, she had offered herself to me, to be her beloved once more. I had been quick to tell her that she knew it was never going to be, that I belonged to the vow that I had made to my parents.

And that's when it all had come back to me.

The next morning, I had been on a plane back to the United States, ready to answer the calls of those that needed me.

"HELP!!"

To the average person, the surface of the reservoir appeared to be frozen well enough to chance a few steps, maybe even a twirl or two. Unfortunately it wasn't and it was something that the two drowning figures would certainly remember from then on.

That was if I---.

Shut up and save them.

I paused on a jagged piece of cement that had once been part of the twenty foot tall lip of the smallest of Gotham's reservoirs. On average it held a little less than four hundred million gallons of fresh water but since the quake, it could not have been more than a tenth full.

Still plenty enough to drown in.

Without wasting another second, I secured two grapples to the remnants of the steel building that had once been the water treatment center. Discarding my cape, I secured the lines to my belt before descending into the reservoir, cautiously making my way across the weak ice towards the splashing and screaming. Activating my night vision, I spotted only one pair of hands frantically grasping a large chunk of dislodged ice.

… two are in the water…

The opening in the ice was big enough to park two Batmobiles in, offering plenty of open water to make it to the surface for air.

The young woman doing her best to stay afloat was towards the middle, a good ten feet from the edge of the ice that had yet to falter. Taking a deep breath, I slipped into the water, thanking Alfred silently for salvaging the thermal Batsuit from the Cave. It took less than four swimming strokes to reach her but even in that little amount of time I was able to feel my body's temperature drop a degree.

They had been in the water for nearly ten minutes.

As I reached her, I offered no words of encouragement as to save my breath. Instead, I unhooked one of the grapple guns before securing it around her waist, setting it to retract on slow. The water rippled around her as she shivered, not a major concern considering severe hypothermic sufferers were too cold to shiver. I kept her in my peripheral vision as she and her ice block made it to the edge of the ice and then over it. As a few bystanders headed towards the anchored grapple to await her arrival, I turned my attention to the happenings underwater.

The first two dives I made, I chose to use my rebreather but after feeling my lungs frost over, I opted to simply hold my breath. Even with the night lenses of the cowl, there was no sign of another being in the water within my vision range. Each time I came up for air, I found it harder to go back under and when I did, it was increasingly difficult to stay under for longer than a few minutes. Drifting under the intact sheet of ice, I forced myself to hold the air in my lungs as I resumed my search.

Twenty minutes in the water.

An eternity.

Then finally, a flash of white amidst the green, grainy background. Despite the numbness in my limbs and tightness in my chest, I dove down, grasping at the pale limb before shooting towards the surface. It was when the figure was in the pale light of the stars that I realized she had been in the water much longer than twenty minutes.

More like twenty days.

I chose to let go of the corpse in order to dive back down once more but I hesitated as I picked up on loud voices coming from the far side of the reservoir. Glancing over, I spotted a group of four people standing by as a female figure knelt with her back to me. Upon looking more closely, I realized she was leaning over another lying on the ground. I tried to blame the distance on my vision being out of focus even though it was a text book symptom of Stage One hypothermia.

The stooping woman was tilting back the head of the still form when I realized that she appeared to be wearing a dark wet suit. Was it quick thinking on her part, coincidence or had the connection between my brain and eyes frozen over completely?

Looking back to the former treatment building, I spotted the cluster of people from earlier had formed a small fire and were trying to put warmth into the young woman with blankets and vigorous rubbing. When my eyes returned to the other gathering, I realized the woman on her knees had begun to perform artificial respiration.

Too late.

Two breaths.

I failed.

Thirty compressions.

Ignoring the pain that had seemingly engulfed my entire body, I unhooked myself from the second grapple line in order to join the more emergent of the two rescue efforts. By the time I made it out of the ice and onto solid land, the woman on the ground began coughing and the others were quick to roll her over so that she could expel icy water in wet hacks.

An older woman fell to her knees, saying something about taking the wet clothes off before wrapping her up in the blankets she had brought. As I informed her not to as it actually increased body heat loss, I found my eyes settling on the quivering, wet shoulders of the savior. More precisely, at the wavy dark hair that was starting to freeze in the cold air.

My boot crunching on snow caused her to turn her head in order to look up at me.

Although her skin was always a pale cream color, the flesh of her exposed cheeks was bright white, standing out starkly against the mask that engulfed the top of her head and face. Lips that were usually a deep crimson were nearly cobalt. The only thing that was the same was the green jade of her eyes.

Selina.

The last time I had seen her, Selina had declared her intentions to reap the benefits of No Man's Land by taking possession of whatever struck her fancy. Instinctually, I had growled a warning that if she stole in Gotham, I would bring her down. She had grinned over her shoulder at me before replying, "Good, come and chase me, Batman."

When she had been out of earshot, I had allowed myself a moment to smirk before replying quietly, "Count on it."

It had been my own fault as she had returned to No Man's Land at my request, which I had been fairly surprised that she had so readily complied. She had been one of the few people that I could trust who lived outside in the real world that would have the knowhow of sneaking in and out of the military protected remains of the city. Without question, she had agreed to bring me information I needed to verify concerns I had about a certain bald headed billionaire taking over my city.

Either she wanted to take on the challenge or she had her own agenda or most likely, both.

In the weeks that had followed, I had been preoccupied with maintaining order in a lawless city in addition to hunting down Arkham inmates, doing battle with Bane and preparing to counter with Luthor's less than philanthropic acts. Amidst the day to day struggles, I had lost track of her, not even able to spare a second's thought of her whereabouts at any point in my waking hours. There had been no doubt that my focus belonged to preparing my city to rejoin civilization as opposed to looking for one cat thief.

Not the first time I had made the mistake of overlooking her. Nor the last.

She offered a smile on trembling lips before raising a hand towards me. I was quick to grasp it, helping her to her feet as she fought for balance. She had never developed her suit to protect her from gunfire let alone from extreme elements. It seemed as if she was doing all she could to keep her shivering under control but there was nothing she could do about the color of her mucous membranes.

No doubt she was thinking the same as she looked me over.

With some of Gotham's finer Samaritans hard at work, I escorted Selina away from the reservoir and into the seclusion of a former drug store that had the blessing of being in a Wayne Enterprises commercial structure. Although barren after months of raiding and scavenging, it was quiet, out of the cold and away from prying eyes.

"This is exactly why I'm not one of the good guys… too much work… not enough pay out," she stammered, still managing to smile.

I went to open the first aid pouch on my modified utility belt but was surprised to find it difficult to use my thumb and forefingers together.

Losing muscle dexterity.

"How did you know there was another girl?" I asked as I finally managed to undo the clasp.

Her shrug was barely noticeable amidst the quivering, "Was taking a late night stroll. Heard laughter. Looked down… saw the girls skating around in boots… then the ice…" My eyes went to her face when her words tapered off. She cocked her head slightly before asking, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied curtly before snapping active an instant chemical warming pouch, "Here, press this to your chest and cross your arms over it---."

Selina took it and did as told, "Oh, come now, we all know the best way to regenerate body heat… is through skin on skin friction…"

"This first," I retorted, "That… if necessary."

"Promise?" she raised an eyebrow before leaning against my chest.

Out of concern for her immediate well being, I reluctantly wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her to me before rubbing her back to help her blood circulate. She laughed through chattering teeth as she pressed her cheek to my chest. After an eternal sixty seconds, she looked up at me, "Feeling warmer already. You?"

I roughly estimated my core body temp to be hovering at ninety-six degrees given the challenging muscle control, every hair on my body standing on end and the fact that my vision was still blurry.

My stance suddenly faltered and I found myself stepping back to lean against a frosted over counter. Panic filled me that the muscles in my limbs were giving but when I regained my balance with no trouble, I realized why I had stumbled. As exhausted as I was had made it fairly difficult to hold up her suddenly limp form, despite her small stature.

"Selina?" I began to lower her to the ground while simultaneously checking her vitals. Her limbs quaked violently as her eyes clenched shut. I called her name again, louder as I pinched skin on her upper arm.

When her lids slowly pulled back to reveal green, she asked, "Wh-what happened?"

Idiot, false sensations of warmth meant she was transitioning to the second stage of hypothermia…

I had a satellite cave less than a mile away.

Selina had twenty minutes to get her temperature above ninety-five degrees before ventricular tachycardia and organ failure set in.

I couldn't fail.

^V^

Next Chapter: Now or Never


	2. Now or Never

Title: Cold Winter's Night: Now or Never

Author: DC Luder

Rating: M for language, adult situations and violence

Summary: At his lowest hour in No Man's Land, a surprise encounter may be the difference between surrendering and pushing onward.

Infringements: All recognizable characters belong to DC Comics, not DC Luder.

Author's Note: After reading No Man's Land to sate the sudden need to re-read that wonderful scene between Jim Gordon and Batman in Legends of the Dark Knight #125, I randomly sat down and wrote this piece.

A/N 2: General references to events throughout NML. I decided to make this a three-parter. Action packed first chapter, angsty second chapter and a hot and spicy third one!

^V^

_The best way will be to avoid each other without appearing to do so -- or if we jostle, at any rate not to bite._

Lord Byron

^V^

I fell twice on the way to the satellite cave and it wasn't because of the snow.

Since I had first donned the mask, I had developed an uncanny ability to block out even the most concerning of injuries in order to prioritize the needs of others. Against the laws of medicine, I had remained active hours after being stabbed, shot, burned and hit by getaway cars. My protégés had been quick to learn that asking if I was all right was futile, even Gordon caught on after a few years.

Alfred had once said that I would find myself saving a damsel in distress long after my pulse gave out.

Although the physical act of carrying Selina for a mile in the snow covered streets had been a struggle step for step, it had brought up my vitals, including my temperature. Even still, I was far from being in the clear as my vision kept glazing over and my arms and legs prickled with every move I made. The first time my legs gave, we had made it less than fifty yards from the drug store and I had nearly lost my hold on the shivering body in my arms. By falling to my knees and pulling up my arms around her shoulders and under her knees, I was able to keep her from landing in the snow.

She showed no sign of being alarmed.

The second time had been out of the blue, my right leg locking up, refusing to jog another step. I had been focusing intently on keeping Selina conscious, asking her questions about heists and steals she had made over the years, intentionally messing up details in order to get a rise out of her. It had worked for nearly half of a mile but just as I thought she was doing better, her words began to slur and she had to fight to keep her eyes open.

Fortunately, I was able to spare her from a less than desirable landing on the pavement by setting her down before I finally gave in to my rigid leg's demands. While vigorously rubbing life back into my quadriceps, I rechecked her vitals, not surprised to see her breathing had become shallow but her pulse was still above normal.

Her eyes fluttered briefly and a shaking hand reached up and touched my shoulder, "My turn…"

"What?" I had replied.

"To… carry you," she managed a weak smile

"I'm fine," I said as I exhaled heavily. To prove it, I rose to my feet before helping her up as well.

When I had proceeded to lift her, she shook her head, "Slow down, stud… Don't need to take… another tumble."

I had been quick to follow after Selina as she walked away from me, the usual grace of her gait lost to unsteady steps. When my hand had settled on her shoulder, she had shrugged it off violently thus setting her off balance and sending her to the ground. Despite my own failing body, I managed to grasp her arm with one hand before reaching around to secure the other around her lower back.

Once she was back in my arms, Selina stuttered, "I'll carry you… next time."

"Next time," I had replied softly.

As we finally made it to the secluded entrance, my foggy mind wondered if Alfred was right, if I would be able to save her after my body gave out on me.

I answered my own question. There was no other option, there never had been.

The second smallest of the stations I had developed throughout the city had a generator strong enough to maintain bare minimum running lights, and a few of the small appliances and either the heater, refrigerator, microwave or computer. It had been used, until that point, simply for brief periods of rest and catching up with Oracle in rare moments of down time. As fate would have it, I had meant to ask Alfred to restock it for some time but had failed to do so.

After locking us in to the cramped quarters, I set her on the small bed in order to heat up bags of intravenous saline, retrieve blankets and the first aid kit as well as to make contact with Oracle. Once I had caught her up on the events at the reservoir and Selina's condition, she hesitated before replying, "I heard there was another masked do-gooder from my Eye, I thought you had reconciled with Huntress."

"Unlikely," I growled as I attached sterile lines and catheters to the IV bags. I proceeded to remove my gloves and tunic, ignoring the goose bumps that covered my bare flesh and the lack of pigmentation. After carefully inserting the needle in a dorsal metacarpal vein that crossed the back of my hand, I looked up at the monitor to see Barbara's concerned face. "I'm going to cut power from auxiliary equipment to run the heater. I'll contact you on the link if---."

Barbara nodded on the screen, "She'll be fine. She's in good hands."

Returning to the bedside, I hung both IV bags on a metal hook that I had welded to the bed frame years ago for such a reason. Considering her condition, she would best respond to a central line as opposed to a peripheral insertion. Setting the blankets further down on the bed, I gently began removing her boots.

"Told that woman... not to take the clothes off… makes you colder," Selina whispered.

"While exposed to the elements, yes… in proper shelter, no," I retorted, pausing briefly before undoing the leather belt around her waist.

Claws raked my face, shocking me only because of the lack of force behind them.

"Fine," I snapped, "You do it."

Leaving her, I took my saline and proceeded to shut down the computer, saving the lights for last. After turning the space heater on full blast, my IV bag and I returned to the small bed to find Selina hiding under all three of the mylar thermal blankets.

My head went light suddenly and I opted to sit on the edge of the bed as opposed to standing while inserting the catheter. Pulling the blankets down, I found that she had removed her mask and that one of her shoulders was completely bare.

My voice was soft as I informed her, "I need to push warm saline through an IV…"

She snaked a trembling arm out from under the blankets and offered it to me.

"I need to do so through a central line… inserted below your collar bone."

Selina shook her head and before I could lament its importance, she looked to my hands while stuttering, "Needle in my chest… Not with those… tremors, you're not."

I followed her gaze to see my bare hands were quaking.

Mustering the will to still them for a few moments, I persuaded her to let me insert it peripherally in her hand. Unfortunately, the fluids couldn't be rushed into her blood stream but it would have to do for the time being. Retrieving the thermometer from the first aid kit, I took her otic temperature, my eyes trying to convince my brain that the number read ninety-three degrees.

Keeping the thermometer in hand, I rose in order to navigate back to the main electric hub to shut out the lights, all the while expecting a sly quip from Selina. When she offered only staggered breaths and clattering teeth, I hit the switch off, relying on the night vision of the cowl to make my way back to her side. In the safety of the dark, I proceeded to remove my body armor, belt, boots and leggings, leaving me bare save for the mask.

Twenty minutes earlier, Selina had smiled up at me, joking that the best way to regenerate body heat was skin on skin friction.

…This first… That… if necessary…

Taking as deep of a breath as my frigid lungs would allow, I lifted the blankets and slipped under them, laying on my side before reaching for her. Her skin was cold and moist, but my numb fingers had a difficult time ascertaining its texture. Her body had begun taking necessary steps to retain blood flow to the torso for vital organs, leaving her limbs to fend for themselves.

Selina turned on her side to face me although I was uncertain as if she had intended to. I wrapped my arms around her back while entangling her legs with mine. As I pulled the blankets up over our heads, her breath came in short pants into the middle of my chest.

After a silent minute, I asked, "Selina?"

"I'm awake…" she managed. Her head shifted on the single down pillow, looking up at my face. "Not fair… can see me… can't see you…"

The only illumination in the room aside from the red of the heater was that of the lenses in my cowl, offering a faint green glow. When I had been disrobing a moment earlier I had left it on as a final line of defense, not in concealing my identity but rather to maintain a proper mindset. Donning the suit, the cowl was the last item I put on and after patrols it was often the first to come off.

Unless it had been a bad night, then the cowl stayed, keeping Batman in charge and Bruce Wayne at bay.

Batman needed to save Selina, Bruce couldn't.

Could he?

The arm I had draped over her side in order to rub her back retreated, moving up to my face. Without a thought, I hooked icy fingers under the bottom lip that circled the base of my neck pulling it up over my jaw. Once off, I let it join the rest of mine and Selina's sodden garments on the cement floor. The complete darkness of the satellite cave would prevent her from seeing what I hid beneath the mask.

As the Joker had once said many years ago, my face was actually my mask.

My hair, overgrown from neglect, was damp and cold as it slowly came loose from its compressed state. Before I returned my arm to rest around her back, she removed the IV wielding hand she had pressed between us and gently set it on the side of my bare face.

"Nice… side burns."

I whispered my thanks before returning to the work at hand, namely rubbing my arms up and down her back and side while shifting my legs in between hers, anything to bring her warmth. Although I began to regain proper circulation and sensation in my extremities, I found it increasingly difficult to maintain consciousness. The last time I had slept had been two days earlier and that had only been a two and a half hour nap which had been interrupted twice by Oracle. Even if there hadn't been a need to carry Selina to the satellite cave, I expected that I still would have been exhausted after having the cold water draining what little energy I had left.

I dozed off twice within the span of ten minutes, both times waking to Selina shaking and mumbling to herself in my arms. When I tried to engage with her, she countered with a quick smile and a muted reply. Thermometer in hand, I placed it in her ear and smirked briefly at the digital readout. We had brought her temperature up a degree and a half.

Only four more to go…

"Your turn," she murmured.

At first I thought Selina had been repeating what she had said earlier, about how it had been her turn to carry me. I reminded her where we are, dreading that she was beginning to suffer short term memory problems from the lack of oxygen in her blood. She shook her head, the hand that was on my face moved two inches forward and poked me in the ear.

"I'm---," I began but she cut me off by poking me again, harder. I hesitated and grumbled, "Fine," before inserting the device in my ear canal. It beeped five seconds later, the readout putting me only a degree warmer than Selina. Logical, considering I was giving off my body heat to her but she had yet to develop enough to provide to me.

…long after my pulse gave out…

My eyes snapped open suddenly and my first sensation was that of warmth, excessive even. I was no longer on my side but rather flat on my back and despite the darkness I could see the outline of Selina's head resting on my chest. Rather than being completely concealed by the mylar thermals, each of us had our heads revealed and I noticed one of my arms had snuck out to wrap around her blanketed shoulders. Her one leg rested between mine as she laid face down, mostly on top of me.

It was comfortable enough to be uncomfortable.

The IV had fallen out of my left hand but upon reaching up to the bags, I was surprised to see both had emptied completely. I had set them on a drip rate of 5 milliliters per minute, which would have required nearly three hours to empty the bags. The last time I had made note of the time had while I signed off with Oracle around ten in the evening.

Without disturbing Selina, I reached down to the floor with my left hand, reaching for either my cowl or utility belt. Finding neither, I skimmed my hands across the cold cement, running into what felt like a small cell phone. I opened it up without raising it to my face, glancing down to see it the main display putting it as nearly four in the morning in white font against a dark background of a black cat sleeping in a laundry basket.

At least my vision was back to normal.

Letting the phone remain on the floor, I brought my hand back up and went about taking her vitals once more, leaving her temp for last as I was fairly certain that would wake her. Her pulse was slow and steady, respiration was deep and strong and her temperature was hovering at ninety-six degrees.

After I removed the device, she shook her head slightly, reaching a hand up to rub her ear, "Good morning to you, too."

The life in her voice brought a smile to my face, one which I had to force myself to remove before asking, "How are you feeling? Nausea? Pain in your arms and legs?" Selina shook her head and I continued after putting my hand in hers, "Squeeze my hand."

Even though she did as told, I asked her to do it again, harder.

At that, she moved under the covers, resting her weight on one elbow while setting the other flush against my chest. Looking at me, she replied, "I figured you'd be the type to like it hard."

"Selina," I growled a warning.

She removed her hand from my chest and squeezed harder, although not my hand.

"That's enough," I pushed her off of me and made a move to leave the bed. She retaliated quickly, locking my hips in between her legs as she moved to kneel above me, preventing me from moving my lower body.

Instinct had my hands latch onto her forearms, drawing her closer to me so that she wouldn't be able to gain leverage if she chose to strike. Selina shifted on top of me, still holding my lower torso in her grasp while returning her face to rest beside mine. After exhaling, she hissed something in my ear.

"What?" I snapped.

"Now or never. You know we're never going to have this opportunity again… This was only because of a life and death situation and since I don't plan on diving into frozen bodies of water any time soon---."

"You wanted me to save you?" I asked, my voice losing its growl.

"Trust me, I had no intentions on playing Blizzard Baywatch last night… and how was I supposed to know you would show up?" she replied defensively. After a beat, she loosened her death leg grip and I in turn let my hands rest on her arms rather than grasping them. "Let's call it… a twist of fate."

My glare softened, "Is that what this is?"

She leaned in closer, her lips a fraction of an inch from mine, "… on a cold winter's night."

^V^

Next: Carpe Diem


	3. Carpe Diem

Title: Cold Winter's Night: Carpe Diem

Author: DC Luder

Rating: M for language, adult situations and violence

Summary: At his lowest hour in No Man's Land, a surprise encounter may be the difference between surrendering and pushing onward.

Infringements: All recognizable characters belong to DC Comics, not DC Luder.

Author's Note: After reading No Man's Land to sate the sudden need to re-read that wonderful scene between Jim Gordon and Batman in Legends of the Dark Knight #125, I randomly sat down and wrote this piece.

A/N 2: References made to The Long Halloween, Dark Victory and NML. This chapter features adult sexual content and brilliant Alfred-ness… although not at the same time. Reader discretion is advised.

^V^

_He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason._

Marcus Tillius Cicero

^V^

"Just forget about who we are, forget about the masks, forget that this city is falling down around us… for once, let it just be me and you. Everything else, just let go."

Despite the fact that I had every reason to be focused on the present, I found myself thinking back nearly fifteen years, looking into her green eyes, running my hands through her hair…

Not as Batman and Catwoman, but as Bruce and Selina.

I could still hear the clink of her silver bracelets, the way her hair covered half of her face, the rich scent of Chanel coming off of her in waves. I had been on my way out of a wedding reception, ready to shed the skin of Bruce Wayne in order take to the streets. All those years ago, there was no one that stood in the way of my work, of my war.

Except her.

She had caught my eye as I approached the front door, standing with a hip cocked and fingers gently tapping her chin. It had taken me a moment to focus on her words given the how little her little black dress was, "It's hot... even for June. Years from now, when people are talking about the weather, they'll say 'It's hot but… not as hot as it was the night Johnny Viti got married…'."

"Hello, Selina."

That smirk, that look in her eye, it had never changed and never ceased to reel me in, "Care to dance, Bruce?"

A lifetime ago but I could still feel her arm around me as we danced amongst Gotham's elite, both civilians and criminals given the mob ties the newlyweds had. She would kiss me in between every song, biting my lip to the point of nearly drawing blood. When she had invited me to her penthouse that night, I had to literally force myself to decline, knowing if I went I would never make it to patrols.

While we had willingly shared a bed as civilians, our masked identities were caught in a relentless battle of wits and fists. Seemingly every night after leaving Selina's side, I would find myself face to face Catwoman. Without warning, she would hunt me down, engaging in abrupt, violent encounters before speaking her mind. Any time I had tried to reason with her, she would either kiss me or claw at me before taking off. As the year had progressed, she had even aided me in a number of confrontations, battling off mobsters and henchmen by my side with a grin on her face.

Unfortunately, the closer Batman had gotten to Catwoman, the further apart Bruce and Selina had grown. After Harvey had been burned, forever reformed into Two-Face, I had taken it as a personal failure and had started to drive away those who cared for me. This was only mad worse as a series of hangman influenced murder suspects began to surface, of which all leads had pointed to Harvey. Selina had done her best to tolerate being ignored and brushed aside, even going as far as associating herself with Mario Falcone in hopes of attracting my eyes through jealousy. I had managed several weak attempts but she spent more nights at the Manor with Alfred rather than myself.

New Year's Day we had reconciled after I had showed up at her doorstep with fresh baked treats and a dumb smile on my face. She had tried to reject me, saying that because I had bailed on her the night before that she had decided we were over. Rather than defend my actions, I had agreed to leave.

After narrowing her eyes, she had grabbed me by the scarf, dragging me into her brownstone while sighing, "No, damn you. The least you could do is stay for breakfast."

If only that morning could have lasted forever…

Selina had left me two months later, the day after Valentine's. In fact, she left everything behind, moving out of her home, leaving nothing behind save for a note that explained why she left even though it hadn't been necessary. In a way, it had made things easier, giving me uninterrupted time to hunt down Gotham's latest killer. Not long after, I had gone to a charity circus performance that had turned tragic, thus making Selina's whereabouts the least of my concerns.

Like any cat, she returned to her territory, first only in the guise of Catwoman and then eventually reintroducing Selina Kyle to the Gotham elite. Raising and training Dick and tackling an onslaught of new foes had left me little time to get in touch with her without a cowl on my head. It had been simpler as Batman and Catwoman where Bruce and Selina had seemed to be doomed from the start.

Maybe she was right.

… For once, let it just be me and you…

… Just let go…

After her lips left mine, I found my voice, "I don't believe in fate."

"Really?" Selina drew her head back, "Your lips say no but… something else tells me you want to say yes…"

"Selina…" instinct forced my universal warning as my hold on her arms tightened once more.

"I'm all ears," she replied before kissing me once more.

Despite my grip on her, she bent her arms so that once more rested on my chest. I resisted her advance momentarily before my jaw relaxed, parting my lips just enough to allow her access. My conscious should have been reminding me that it was wrong to kiss her, to be spreading my legs in order to bend my knees, to release her arms in order to set my hands on her waist. But there was nothing, no voice, no reasoning, no logic.

…Just let go…

She bit my lip suddenly and I found myself smiling instead of recoiling.

Keeping her hands on my chest, she pushed herself up, taking heavy breaths through her mouth while drawing her legs up in order to kneel above me. Knowing I would only make matters worse, I remained still, breathing through my nose as slowly as I could. She rested against my thighs for a moment before pulling herself up, pressing her pelvis flush against mine.

Slowly, she began to rock against me and I somehow managed to enough control to keep myself from lifting her up so that I could enter her. Just as any encounter we had endured in our lives, this was on her terms, not mine. My hands traced up her sides before moving back down, passing over her hips before settling on her thighs.

After a quick laugh, Selina leaned in to plant her lips on mine once more, still teasing her sex over the length of me. I pulled back for a moment to speak but she shook her head before growling, "Shut up."

"Selina, I need to…"

She interrupted me, driving her tongue into my mouth before retreating, "You're right, a decade of foreplay is enough."

Without a wasting another second, she moved forward so that her breasts came to rest on my collar bones. I had been about to lift my head in order to kiss one but she was already moving back, this time taking me inside her.

Involuntarily, I let my breath out in a gasp, nearly as loud as she sucked in air. Where a moment earlier I had been overwhelmed by memories, I found myself only focused on the present. Her nails dug small rivets into the flesh of my trapeziums while her feet curled up behind my thighs, her toenails tickling my skin, the way her most inner muscles clenched down on me. Despite the fact that we both stank of stale reservoir water, her hair gave off the scent of coconut as it slipped over her shoulders, strands dancing over my forehead and cheeks.

Selina's hands moved suddenly, planting themselves deep into the covers as she increased her tempo. To that point, I had done little aside from gently guide her forward and back with my hands on her legs, mostly in order to keep myself from releasing too quickly. The sudden rush of pressure from her movements encouraged my hips to rise to meet hers, causing her to suddenly grunt before leaning in to bite my neck.

The silence of the satellite cave made our pants, kisses and moans that much louder. She arched her back suddenly, breaking her lips away in order to gasp softly while pushing her torso off of me in order to alter the angle I entered her. One of my hands suddenly rose up to the back of her neck, the other to her waist but she was unwilling to lower herself back down.

"Just let go," she managed between pants.

My hand rejoined the other, holding her hips as they rose and fell, releasing me and drawing me in. My short breaths became grunts as she cried out again, this time her body shaking violently as she had been earlier that night although for a far different reason. Her breath, seemingly trapped inside her, was finally released in a succession of unintelligible cries.

Not a moment later, I found myself in a similar state of ecstasy, although I managed to cry out her name at the release. Still throbbing inside her, I sat up, moving one hand to rest between her slender shoulders while the other rose to brush the hair out of her face. Her lips found mine once more, although her kisses were staggered between sharp intakes of air.

"Should have done that in the first place," she said before moving to rest her brow in the crook of my neck, "Plenty warm now."

Given that she was kneeling, my face was even with her chest and I lapped at a bead of sweat that ran down her sternum. Rather than recline back down onto the bed, I gently rolled her over so that I was balanced on my hands and knees while she lay on her back. I followed the taste of salt down her navel and then back up to her collar bone.

"I'm sorry," Selina sighed as her hands locked behind the back of my head.

I cleared my throat before searching for her face in the near complete darkness, "For what?"

There was a pause as her knees rose up slowly, "For this."

The knees slammed forward into my groin as her hands grasp my hair, driving me headfirst into the metal frame of the head board.

I woke to Alfred shaking my shoulders, his voice seemed as if it was coming through a dense fog, "Master Bruce! Master Bruce!"

Shaking my head, I began to sit up but he was quick to press his thin hands on my chest, forcing me back down, "Sir, I insist you remain where you are, given the state of your brow there's no doubt you've suffered a concussion."

"My brow?" I reached up to touch my aching temple to feel warm, wet flesh. My fingers came back red.

"Ms. Gordon contacted me when you failed to respond to her calls on the communication link. She said were suffering from hypothermia and Lord only knows what other injuries."

As my mind slowly regained focus, I tried to piece together the previous night knowing full well I should have woken up with Selina in my arms rather than alone with a gash on my forehead. While Alfred rummaged through the medical supplies for a sterile suture kit, I sat up, looking about the small room. When looked over the bed, I spotted the dried blood on the headboard and growled lowly to myself.

Stupid fool.

"Sir, I'm afraid I'll have to take you to Dr. Thompkins, it seems as if most of the medical supplies are gone, along with the food rations."

"Of course they are," I snapped as I rose from the bed, retrieving my scattered garments from the floor, "Were the lights on when you arrived?"

"No, sir, in fact everything was turned off."

"Was trying to conserve the generator for the heater," I replied curtly before depositing the pieces of the Bat-suit in the room's sole chair, the smell of the reservoir clinging to every piece. I had a clean one in another one of the satellite caves waiting for me after I washed and changed into civilian clothes. For the interim, I donned a pair of sweat pants that were in one of the utility drawers.

Rather than boot up the computer, I opted to wash up using the small sink in the closet of a bathroom. Leaving the door open, I watched as Alfred began tidying up the room, collecting garments in a laundry basket while discarding garbage. After washing my face, I looked to the mirror, my eyes instantly finding the bruising of my forehead in addition to a four inch gash.

Slam, bam, thank you, ma'am.

"Sir?"

"What?" I asked as joined him, tossing the bloodied towels into the basket that sat on the floor.

He had his back to me as he stripped the small bed clean of sheets and blankets, "Was there anything else you needed laundered?"

"The suit needs to be cleaned. And waterproofed."

"Anything else?" he inquired with a look over his shoulder.

"Not that I know of."

"Are you certain?" he asked as he turned around, revealing a pair of lace trimmed, purple Brazallian cut panties dangling from his pinkie finger.

I was the Batman, capable of striking fear into anyone… save for Alfred.

"Selina… was at the reservoir. She dove in to save the second victim... Her suit made her more vulnerable… her hypothermia was nearly in the third stage before I managed to get us here… Her body temperature was well below mine."

Alfred tossed the undergarment into the laundry basket, "Well, obviously you managed to correct it… a hero to us all, Master Bruce."

I simply stared at him, trying to convince myself that I didn't need to explain myself to him.

That was until he continued, "I'll be sure to have Dr. Thompkins arrange for a tetanus and rabies booster when you get your sutures."

"Rabies?"

"Why, it appears that either Count Dracula has paid you a visit, sir, or that you have been attacked by a wild animal," his eyes travelled to my neck.

I glanced over my shoulder to catch myself in the bathroom mirror once more, this time far enough away to see my upper torso.

Wild animal.

Wild cat.

He clucked his tongue softly before speaking, "Well, it does explain why this humble little abode has taken on the scent of Chanel and adultery… and it also would clarify the message left scrawled in the frost on the secret entrance, as it was."

"What message?" I asked, my voice straining for a demanding tone but came out urgent and confused.

"Ahem, I believe it read: 'Next time, bring the cuffs, I'll bring the whip.' Or something to that effect. Now, sir, not that I wish to stress you when you are clearly infirm, but I must ask…"

"What?" I snapped, the growl back in my tone.

"When I restock this or, perhaps, all of the satellite caves… should I make the beds with one pillow or two?"

"Alfred."

"Mayhaps some scented candles… chocolates, perhaps I can rustle up some---."

"Shut up."

"… Very good, sir."

^V^


End file.
